Jargon. The word itself just sounds unapproachable and confusing. And though each industry has its own sector-specific language, using such terminology during a job interview doesn’t mean you know what you’re talking about—it could actually indicate the opposite.

When preparing for an interview, many candidates will take some time to study up on the industry and company itself—a sensible way of doing your due diligence. This review could yield terms, concepts or phrases you believe might make you sound like a more attractive and qualified candidate. However, unless you truly understand what the jargon means, think twice before dropping it on your interviewer—it’s akin to namedropping. Considering jargon could be interpreted differently by companies in the same industry, you may end up showing your interviewer more of what you don’t know instead of what you do.

Rather than relying on jargon, go with the lesson your middle school English teacher hammered down: Explain it in your own words. This allows you to show both your comprehension and synthesizing skills—and you’ll appear a stronger overall job candidate because of it.

I recently wrote about the “best time” to apply for a job: now! After all, when a company posts a job opening, management is trying to fill the position as soon as possible—wondering if “now” is the right time to apply could cost you the chance completely.

However, if you’re on the job hunt in general, awareness of the calendar can help boost your prospects, especially in certain sectors or fields. For example, retailers tend to hire more seasonal workers before their busy seasons, like the winter holidays. If you’re a college student, don’t wait until the end of the semester or quarter to start looking into and applying to job postings—career fairs tend to be closer to the beginning of the academic semester and recruiters seek to have their hiring classes set by the end.

You can’t time when the perfect job opportunity will come up—doing so would be an exercise in futility—but keeping the time of year in mind can help give you additional ideas of where to look.